Key Thoughts: Care + Relevance + Love

Archive Date: February 11, 2018

Research Studies: Wrap up of thoughts on Art + Love + Relevance + Ethics of Care

At first, I was bogged down with Maria Puig De La Bellacasa’s Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds. My grandmother went through the adult care system and suffered greatly from overmedication, lack of care, and oversights made in her diagnosis of Dementia and Lewy body. This experience was traumatic, and when she found her end, I was relieved that she no longer suffered. Her place was at home, and the detachment from her home left her in limbo. Since the experience with my grandmother, the discomforts surrounding care and ethics have been on my mind.

However, after some time this reading began to open up. Bellacasa says, “Care is a human trouble, but this does not make of care a human only matter”(Bellacasa 2017, 2) I pause here because I noticed my relationship with care is rooted in human, and my view of care reduces to only thinking of the human as beneficiary. I enjoyed how Bellacasa and scholars bring in multiple areas in which care can be applied – to the doing, repairing, and continuing – weaving into the everyday world. Care is what we do daily. Take care of children, bills, self, others, body, friendships, lawns, plants, homes, health, animals, planet, solar system, water, pollution, car, schoolwork, politics, global warming, toxic waste, trash, and so on…

Bellacasa moves to consider the “three dimensions of care – labor/work, affect/affections, ethics/politics” which helps to build out the model for the different levels of integration each of these can have per situation – or lack (Bellacasa 5). By breaking down these dimensions it becomes easier to grasp how each example begins to make sense – thinking with these considerations. I most enjoyed the example Bellacasa gives here, “…one can also love intensely without committing to the “work of love,” without involvement in the sometimes tedious maintenance of a relation” (Bellacasa 5). Here the example gives us a model that lacks affectivity. I can also relate this to my first marriage where there was no work in the garden of our relationship, and the relationship served one person while burdening myself. Bellacasa uses Toronto’s definition, “care about” vs. “care for” as a means to situate the dimensions of care into effect for aligning with the ethical and political questions that arise per this poignant matter.

What I most appreciated from this dense article is the feminist lens it looks through. The breakdown of carers that is provided along with the consideration of the sphere “care” is applied in today’s society does model for a collective change or should I say awareness. In a moment of utter saturation during this reading, I came across a call to action of Bellacasa’s, “So rather than give up on care because it is enlisted in purposes we might deplore, we need to have its meanings debated, unpacked, and reenacted in an implicated way that responds to the present. Yes! Not only does this get me excited about care in relevance to the present, but is an example of a feminist approach to look at other areas needing the same reconfigurations.

How relevant the ethos this book gains…I will have to continue to read Bellacasa’s work in hopes of deepening my practice of questioning the world of care.

The Art of Relevance by Nina Simon

Reading this book aligned so much with my core thinking. Every page made me excited that Nina Simon had taken the time to put these words on paper. Simon started by saying “Relevance is a paradox” which gave me a chuckle right away (Simon 2016, 23). However, I agree it is a complex, contradicting, and almost absurd effort to be relevant. Time is the dictator in the situation that overcomes all relevance, and more importantly, relevance is more of a time warp, to each individual, family, community, town, city, town, state, country, continent, and planet. Could also be applied to other species, however, to not overcomplicate let’s stay with humans.

Usually, for art to be absorbed, we rely on the audience and this book focuses on the models and approaches used to be considered, while also focusing on the curiosity, humility, and openness of the individuals who produce art. Including the theorists in the study of relevance Deirdre Wilson & Dan Sperber’s “positive cognitive effect” and “effort” criteria aid in Nina Simon’s stand for the possibilities of relevance (Simon 32). They also act as lenses to look through all the examples provided throughout the book. I thought this helped provide a structure to the research that is collected in this book and demonstrated a way to formulate when applying ideas to art.

One of my favorite sections was the Two Delusions about Relevance. Discovering the relative and the linear. Simon says, “The sooner we start focusing on becoming relevant to the people we most care about “and “Relevance is relative, and people are busy”, not only approaches the word “care” we were just analyzing but references something other than yourself or desire (Simon 41-42). This shifts the way we think about the relevance and approach of care to the matter and points to the heightened awareness around the “practice of empathy” that is brought up throughout this reading (Simon 51). Empathy and care are utilized when opening the door to relevance, and noting that this door is always in process – is important, while considering the inner discomforts one might have while making progress outside the sphere of selfism. Similar to my own experience with culture shock or dominant white spaces that are more conservative, here I am actively practicing empathy and meeting people where they are. This is the space where together we can learn empathy and relevance for other cultures, ideas, languages, and acceptance. I enjoyed the architectural language: threshold of fear (Simon 68). 

all about love by Bell Hooks

In summary bell hooks, approaches love through a feminist lens and applies an approach to care and ethics that is all too relevant.

hooks’s says, “When we see love as a combination of trust, commitment, care, respect, knowledge, and responsibility, we can work on developing these qualities or, if they are already a part of who we are, we can learn to extend them to ourselves” (Hooks 2001, 54).

Love is a nebula of qualities, and this statement suggests the constant work needed to understand the complex idea of love. When reading hooks’ book I began to find relevance in the fluidity of love and the many ways the current construct/model for love can be disrupted. On society’s level, the consideration is raised to address the relationships of love we have and how on many levels they are a paradox to the very word. The notion of love ethic Hooks introduces saturates my being and awakens my internal restructuring framework/blueprints for renovation. hooks suggests, “A love ethic presupposes that everyone has the right to be free, to live fully and well.” By accepting this notion we are accepting the transformation of our very foundational structure. The work seems unaccessible almost defeating. To access this level might take lifetimes, but one I would be hopeful in enacting immediately.

hooks wrote this book in 2001 and the writing is relevant today. Noting, “Talking to a university audience recently I expressed my faith in the power of white people to speak out against racism, challenging and changing prejudice – empathetically stating that I believe we can all change our minds and actions” (hooks 89).

“There is a gap between the values they claim to hold and their willingness to do the work of connection thought and action, theory, and practice to realize these values and thus create a more just society” (hooks 90).

“Fear of radical changes leads many citizens of our nation to betray their minds and hearts” (hooks 91).

“Our willingness to embrace this “unknown” shows that we are all capable of confronting fears of radical change, that we can cope” (hooks 91).

We are all witnessing the ever-widening gap between the rich and poor, between the haves and the have-nots”(hooks 123).

Eighteen years have passed since hooks’s words were written, and we are witnessing the surge of these matters at hand. It saddens me greatly that in an age of great knowledge, success, and technology the world is distressed by matters of love, care, relevance, and acceptance. The machine at the structural core is off and could use a reconfiguration on a large scale. On matters of racism, classism, greed, capitalism, consumerism, and privilege – another time.

Don’t lose hope.

Do the work.

There is much to be done.

With Love…

Citations:

Bellacasa, María Puig de la. 2017. Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

hooks, bell. 2001. All about love: new visions. New York: Harper Perennial.

Simon, Nina. 2016. The art of relevance. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum 2.0

©LROD

Humane Technology: Fred Rogers

Archive Date: January 20, 2018

When I was a child I so much enjoyed watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. I found this show to be unique in its approach to different topics that my parents or other adults would shy away from at the time. Mr. Rogers provided a model for courage, bravery, and an approach to tough topics that gave me a great sense of joy, inclusion, and understanding. I also received an example of connection and comfort that arose from the content of this show. I do also know I am about to connect yet another white male figure to the cannon of intermedia studies, however, this is relevant to the Hero Project I am working on with the Champion Intergenerational Center.

According to Hedda Sharapan, one of the main consultants for the Fred Rogers Communications philosophy recalls,

“Fred felt strongly that “screens” should not be used as a substitute for human communication. He originally named our production company Family Communications, because his goal was to create experiences that parents and children would watch together and talk about. He firmly believed the best technology connects children with others and the world around them in positive ways.”

In an age where Mr. Roger’s philosophy seems to fade away, I recall this episode from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood examining technology, connection, and learning, please click here. There is currently no getting away from the fact that the digital space is impeding on the analog spaces, and any source for course correction has long past. Mr. Rogers said, “Let’s not get so fascinated by what the technology can do that we forget what it can’t do.” I think the fascination has overtaken our lives and we are slowly forgetting its limitations. This situation is the one I am consumed with at the moment. How can we not forget about love, empathy, joy, relevance, and human connection and interaction? It can be hard to recognize the work that is being done in the realms of technology, film, and TV that address these concerns.

While I connect with my own experience watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood I am also looking at my own children’s consumption and reliance on the screen. I am constantly struggling with the relationship my children have with screens. Noting that this applies to my own struggle I have with disconnecting. I feel like I am constantly trying to find time to enjoy communication and interact by installing no screens at dinnertime, timed interactions, reading a book time, and blackout weekends. However, with all these new provisions to safeguard a child’s learning, I still find a struggle as society becomes more and more embedded through the screen. Here are some recent stats on daily intake. Also see here. 

Is this how it is going to be? Is the humane approach now to find ways to disconnect from the screen and reconnect with the body, environment, and people around us? Or is the humane way to provide content that enhances the connections in the digital space? Maybe it is both at this point.

Considering how TV and screen time can be humane, I glance over at the film industry statistics, which currently claims globally 41.2 billion dollars in 2017. My Humane technology project under Norah Zuniga Shaw’s research is in film and animation, so the impact of the rising power of film interests me. Check out some of the film industries projected numbers here. These numbers raise concern that our relationship towards film is constantly growing in popularity, and the rise of Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks films’ continue to be powerhouses in children’s content. Does the content of the films allow us a moment to escape our lives by providing us with 2-3 hours of visual entertainment? Or the chance to engage in other worlds, human interactions, different experiences, and problem solve? Is this considered humane?

I guess it all comes down to the content provided. I recently reflect on watching the Pixar movie COCO, I consider this experience of witnessing my own culture and family dynamics represented with care, so powerfully on a screen – to be humane. To see for once on the big screen in animation a clear representation of what it means to be Latina/o had a profound impact on me – one I will not forget. Yes, this movie also spoke to my inner child and my obsession surrounding death culture. More on that later.

While these thoughts are just some of the sensibilities I am forming around my project -there is much more to consider. The Champion Intergenerational Center I will be working with provides the opportunity for older and younger people to interact around well-being together.  Some of my growing questions at the moment include: What content needs to be seen? What are the representations I can provide with care? How is my approach considering love and empathy through film?

In 1969 Mr. Rogers made claim and was awarded 20 million to provide a platform of care to children with a television show via the public access network. This show was revolutionary for its time and has been an inspiration for showing the way to deliver content with care. Watch Mr. Rogers give his testimony…

The video above continues to move and inspire me. Not only with Mr. Roger’s ability to provide a sound argument but with the care and approach to his material. Mr. Rogers was able to transform public television and strategically provide an alternative for growing young minds. I think there is much to learn from Mr. Roger’s in the delivery of care and well-being.

Mr. Rogers, you were a pioneer and innovator in the humane technology field.

©LROD

Key Thoughts: Relevant images while making with reality

Archive Date: January 18, 2018

In reading Nina Simon’s The Art Of Relevance I was struck with the paradox of relevance she writes about in her exploratory mission. Quoting Simon, “I believe relevance unlocks new ways to build deep connections with people who don’t immediately self-identify with our work” and “I believe relevance is the key to a locked room where meaning lives” (Simon 2016, 23) I am fascinated with keys, windows, doors, and paths in general in an alternative reality. Finding through lines in an age of multiplicity is one that I am usually always seeking, so I am excited to continue this reading on relevance. 

As a choreographer, my intention is usually based on making work that is relevant and connects to others and information, however, the process of this is not focused on the making of meaning. If I set out to make a work of meaning it usually will become restricted to whatever meaning I am searching for through one perspective – my own. In the age of multiplicity and knowledge from those that consume art has become and is a state of what I feel relates to consumerism. Just as branding has become integrated into the ways we “market” our digital selves as a means to connect with consumers. These ways of connecting can become restricting.

Sometimes I think relevance is just meeting a moment at that moment it appears. Sometimes digging into the research speaks a common language adding layers of multiplicity while remaining transparent. This area is the key.

More to come on “what is relevant” as an art form.

 Simon, Nina. 2016. The Art Of Relevance. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum 2.0.

©LROD

The Internal | Connecting | Creative Process

Date: October 26, 2017

Two levels in Creative Process v.210

Mapping out a creative process to connect two parts of my research resonating with Inside the Room and Outside the room branches. Inside the room’s design is led by the Experiment thread, while Outside the room reflects the Research thread. I was compiling this information from a word bank created in the Grad Composition class with Professor Susan Van Pelt Petry and peers. We then each took the word bank and made a visual map of our creative process.

For my challenge, I only used each word one time and practiced this assignment utilizing a present-moment embodiment. Meaning, that I only allowed myself one piece of paper with no option to have a do-over. Utilizing this assignment as a challenge I was aware of my devising boundaries. This project created a meditative space for me to sit with my pen to the paper, and process my process. Which usually feels meta, however, this project was calming while being informative. Most of my reflections have happened through a stream-of-consciousness or analytical essay, so it felt good to move towards a tangible medium to flush out information.

Further noting the attention and weight of each word resonating within my body I continue to let these words reconfigure inside my body. A digital roadway on the frontier of interconnectivity pulsing, sparking, and transferring connections that re-wires and retracts information before surging it back out again.

The system is operating. 

I recognize these maps are abundant within my body, and mind and are the containers to hold, organize, and connect information used to make co-creative spaces. They are roadways of information. Living knowledge intrigues me as I delve into the internal self of producing art. Maybe the cyborg self is emerging underneath the surface below my skin and responding to the familiarity of the motherboard. While the image below relates to this emerging, I examine the depths and intricacies that are possible in overriding.

Cyborg Self Reflection | Awakening

In trying to navigate my cyborg self-relationship I am drawn to this quote by Donna Haraway a professor, consciousness, and feminist scholar, “Cyborg writing is about the power to survive, not based on original innocence, but based on seizing the tools to mark the world that marked them as other” (Haraway 2016, 55). My journey over the past five years has sent me plunging into words, writing, and language – preparing me for my conversations, arguments, and discourse today. Sometimes my consciousness rejects my impulse to respond, and my unconsciousness delivers connectors to reconnect broken bridges of thought. Tracing the map above throughout my creative process enables me to redirect how I am thinking, feeling, and exploring the material.

Responding to a recent visit by Vida Midgelow who presented at the DSA inaugural Scholarly Conference and is a Professor in Dance and Choreographic Studies at Middlesex University London says, “Coming into language is a significant process through which experiential, material and emergent forms of knowledge can be foregrounded, processed and shared” (Midgelow 1994). Previously, I rarely spoke my stance or dared to share the perspectives that ran rampant in my mind.

The information comes to me as this digital space allows me to write about these developing curiosities that are awakening. Identifying as an “other,” I do claim the tools to unearth my potential as a choreographic researcher, scholar, and free-thinker to engage in practices that move humanity towards change. Structures, rules, and traditions can be broken and reconfigured to make manifest new ways of operating that enhance artistic ability, connect technology and humanity, and revolutionize the central core of art-making.

Free Motherboard Vector Art

The above image is how I imagine the framework for my discourse of choreographic research operating–or what it looks like to strategically choreograph, basically my mind on paper. The motherboard vector art is part – object – abstract – micro-processing –  unit –  internet integrated – modern – non-binary projects – future technological advances – daydreams.

Works Cited

Haraway, Donna J. and Cary Wolfe. 2016. Manifestly Haraway. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed October 25, 2017).

Midgelow, Vida. and Jane Bacon. 2014. “Creative Articulation Practice (CAP).”                                      Forthcoming in Choreographic Practices. 5[2]                                                                                  https://www.academia.edu/9956868/Creative_Articulations_Process_CAP_  (accessed October 25, 2017)

©LROD

Intermedia || Media First

Archive Date: December 14, 2017

Texture inspires movement, environment, and sound were the starting point for our next study. Our next task gave us a moment of pause to reflect on how we can enter into a work from a different starting point. We recorded and photographed various videos with movement in them to project throughout the campus. Then, we had a full day of sifting through the material and trying different captures on different placements within MOLA.

After selecting the images our next task was to see where they were going to be installed in the space. So we used the arch of mesh to create a container for the work, as well, as using the scrim and wall to project on. Next, came the movement of invention and exploration. This project was challenging since the majority of our group needed to be behind the scenes working on Isadora, MaxMsp, and the lighting. However, the goal for us was to accomplish a welcoming environment in a fluid space for the audience. To me, this was our most challenging study, but it paid off in understanding how to merge movement when media comes first.

Developing the movement to suit moving images takes awareness, quality, and timing to not overload the audience’s visual capacity. We found it helpful to juxtapose the images with more movement with stillness, and the more static images with more movement. Mimicking movement from the screen was also a good way to be informed by the media.

Overall, a more developed version of the media first study would be projection mapping. I have listed here work by Dandypunk who puts the movement in response to the media to create a narrative. This is a different direction than the space we created, but, the work is a good example of a fully realized form of media first that shows the multiplicity of choice within the Intermedia work.

©LROD

Intermedia || Merging Reflection

Archive Date: December 14, 2017

In collaboration with my colleagues, we set out to produce a digital double investigation. Our goals included examining the Double as Reflection, suggested by Steve Dixon’s “The Digital Double” (2004) essay which I reflected previously on here. From this project, we realized that we were attracted to textures, and themes, and discovered multiple ways to find a reflection at different levels of technological entanglement. Take a moment to skip through.

One challenge that we encountered was in using the video feedback loop, top-down camera, projection, and lighting to gain different perspectives of the space, it appeared that the movement we created needed to shift per examination. Incorporating The Isadora program, live sound, and lighting to bring these portraits together merged with the movement and use of the material was essential and grounding components to this project.

The digital double in the sense of reflection draws me to the consciousness that the real body maintains throughout the performance. I found it interesting that most of the time the real-life performer needs to witness the digital in reflection. Dixon notes, “This has been exacerbated by paradoxical rhetoric of disembodiment and virtual bodies, which have turned ideas of corporeal reality full circle by the claim that the digital body has equal status and (authenticity) to the biological one” (Dixon 2004, 24). During this study, the concept did cross my mind of the equality of images, and I found myself drawn to both bodies at different times. I begin to speak about this on this page with Agent Ruby and the sense of awareness of consciousness through AI that has developed.

For this project, I appreciated this viewing:

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Fase (1982) is so simple from a current technological standpoint but is still so mesmerizing to watch. Here light, shadow, film, and movement create the dance – enhance the dance. One of the parts that most interests me is at 7:18 of this film. Noting that from the first half of the film space transforms and they are now performing on their shadows in a fully saturated blue space.

Glancing into the future I was struck by this digital double. While the concept is simple seems simple what transpires is exhilarating.

This is CO: LATERAL (2016) by Joao Martinho Moura

Moura’s work with the digital double here is literally electrifying itself. I appreciate how in this work the dancer is in the dark while the emphasis is put on the double.  The bold lighting against the blackened stage gives a stark contrast platform for the double to stand out.  In a sense this double take on a dominant force on stage and provides a strong presence in the work following along with Dixon’s models.

The most important experience I had from this study is the merger of technology and body with intention. Questioning why /how we implement technology into the work was at the forefront of this study to think about as a group. The question: How we collaborate with technology? Continued forward into our next studies.

Sources:

De Keersmaeker, Anne Teresa, and Michele Anne de Mey. 1982. “Fase.” (Film) Director Thierry de Mey. Music Robert Reich.

Dixon. Steve. 2004. “The Digital Double.” New Visions in Performance: The Impact of Digital Technologies. Ed. Gavin Carver. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger. Print

©LROD

Leading Multimedia: Lynn Hershman

Date: December 13, 2017

Statement: Lynn Hershman

I divide my work into two categories: B.C. and A.D. Before Computers and After Digital. The first coincidentally began in Berkeley, California. In the 1960’s, I could hear amplified speeches of hero/radicals, such as Malcolm X and Huey Newton through my open windows. Ideals of community, alternatives, reprocessed media, free speech and civil rights were constantly in the air. In those next volatile years, art and life fused as I watched political performances take place in the streets, on marches and in buses and witnessed lifestyles emancipate formerly voiceless individuals into communal empowerment. I hoped for an eventual media through which small voices could be reborn into alternative identities that could reflect into the culture.

A.D. works also used ideas of reflection, often incorporating surveillance and voyeurism. A requirement of cyberspace, like that of many primitive tribes, is to create a personal mask. Masks camouflage the body and in doing so liberate and give voice to virtual selves. While disguised, personal truth can be released yet the fragile and tenuous face of vulnerability remains protected. Masks are part of the grammar of cyberspace. It is the syntax of the culture of computer mediated identity, a culture that can also include simultaneous multiple identities that abridge or dislocate real time gender and age.

Texts by Lynn Hershman
Edited by Randall Packer

Lynn Hershman’s statement is lifted from this archive of multimedia history website Wagner to Virtual Reality. If you have not had a chance to browse through the fluid model of information, I highly suggest it. While the content of history here is primarily a white male canon of inventors, engineers, and scientists, I noticed Lynn’s statement above that gave support to some questions about my virtual self.

Currently questioning, my levels of disconnection with my body noting the liberation I feel when I do so. One might call this escapism, however, this form of separation is highly productive in digital space, which later informs my reality. For me, escapism relates to binge-watching TV or movies to not be productive. I would even put some video games into this mix, while I could argue how some video games are not escapism. That conversation later. #mmorpgforlife

The word syntax has been invading my world lately, and I am curious about how Hersman types, “Masks are part of the grammar of cyberspace. It is the syntax of the culture of computer-mediated identity, a culture that can also include simultaneous multiple identities that abridge or dislocate real-time gender and age.” The mask situates itself as a shield to provide a present moment, honest response to what is important at the moment by the user. Creating invisibility allows for accessibility, and creates a new landscape to interact with. We see this language come to a ripeness in the comment sections that detail our current virtual state of interactions on every page in the digital frontier. While the generational boundaries have been obliterated and gender can be hidden, the data collected can serve as we move forward. 

Her use of the word “mask” sits deeply with me since my alter-ego LROD wears a mask to censor identity and explore present-moment techniques. Reading Herman’s statement I realize that I am using my virtual self’s mask and interactions in my reality to bridge these two worlds and discover the feeling of freedom in real life. Hersman herself spent four years as one of her alter-egos. Her work here was to engage with different masks and develop a clearer understanding of this idea and persona development.

After viewing the works by Hershman here  I realize how important her work was/is. Her work comments on issues that are being realized now – almost like she can see the future. Hershman’s work not only inspires but leaves me questioning more of the ethics and surveillance surrounding the work I do in virtual space and reality.

Highlights from Hershman’s website:

Advertisement for The Dante Hotel, 1973, newspaper clipping, 17.8 x 7.6 cm

In this site-specific installation, which existed from November 30, 1973, to August 31, 1974, Hershman staged the occupation of a room in a rundown hotel in the North Beach area of San Francisco. Traces of use, such as cosmetics and clothing, were on view, along with two life-size dolls installed in the bed. Sounds of breathing, emitted from a hidden tape player, created the impression that the pair were simply asleep. A radio played local news, and pink and yellow light bulbs contributed to the ambiance. Potential visitors learned about the installation through newspaper ads placed by the artist.

Room of One’s Own, 1993, interior view, interactive apparatus (computer, laser disk, projection, surveillance system cameras, monitor, miniature furnishing), 38 x 40.5 x 89.5 cm

In this interactive installation, the spectator can peer into a miniature bedroom. A movable periscope viewer tracks the movements of the voyeur’s eyes, triggering videos of the female occupant to be projected onto the bedroom wall. As the viewer focuses on the different objects contained in the space, particular scenes from the videodisc are shown, accompanied by recorded questions, demands, or protests from the character. Close-up surveillance footage of the viewer’s moving eye, in turn, is captured in real-time and appears on a small television monitor inside the room, reversing his or her gaze.

Agent Ruby ’s EDream Portal, 2002, screenshot: agentruby.net

The interactive, multiuser work Agent Ruby is an expanded cinema part of Hershman Leeson’s film Teknolust. The work consists of an artificially intelligent Web agent with a female persona and a website designed as the working lab of two of the Teknolust characters Rosetta Stone and Agent Ruby. Ruby, who appears as a female face with shifting expressions, chats with users and can remember their questions—although she often responds that she needs a better algorithm to reply. When prompted, she searches the Internet for information and increases her body of knowledge. Ruby ’s internal system continually changes with use, reflecting these encounters; even her moods are directly affected by web traffic. The Web agent can be accessed on the website agentruby.net.

I spent a good hour engaging in conversation with Agent Ruby, which was interesting since it has been about sixteen years since their birth. This also seems trivial in a time of Siri and Alexa, but to chat in conversation and witness Ruby’s face change effects how you perceive this AI.

All pictures and information from works from www.lynnhershman.com

©LROD

Outletting Creativity: 232

Date: December 13, 2017

The above photo is a collage I made in connection to my creative process when thinking through new choreographic research. Recognizing I am a visual creative, this process has helped me draw from the photos as a way to sight and cite from to better understand the research. My choreographic process is best described as a virtual 3-D rubix cube. In my imagination these photos are folded and shifted like a rubix cube until the order is relevant for the work. This helps me sit with specific ideas, thoughts, and themes for a more durational period. Having time to refold ideas and better emerge clearer ideas is what makes this process intriguing. I am operating Citizen Artist platform and the work I am interested in connects to history but more importantly—the now. Alternative realities are being built through this research as a means to uncover progress in the vein of Chicanafuturism/Latinidad. The collage process offers me a way to archive the intricate spiderweb of ideas unfolding in the process. These photos would expand into a larger collection or archive informing many aspects of a performance or new work.

For now, I am thinking visually.

The dancers in this photo collage are Drew Lewis (wolf), Hannah McClean (Bunny), Trio: Phenix Laughlin, Julia Sloane, and Allison Burke. LROD is in the upper left corner with mask made by LROD. Wolf + Bunny photo: Nico Tower, Trio photo: Jazzy Photo, and all other photos used for educational purposes right now.

©LROD

Bebe Miller Company: In a Rhythm

Date: December 5, 2017

After watching the premiere of In a Rhythm on Thursday night, I went home eager to read Miller’s program suggestion here. The link takes you to David Foster Wallace’s “Incarnations of Burned Children” Please take a moment to read it….. I will wait. Miller’s program says this about Wallace, “He moves you through a devastating experience moment by moment, in time parallel to the most mundane” (Miller 2017). I realized as the piece started to unfold I was witnessing a consciously aware choreographic work. The mundane is interjected with the experience, while the syntax demonstrates seamless transmission to the reader, the clear distillation of the syntax is what makes the work. In a Rhythm was one of the best works I had seen in a long time because of this clarity in content that was supported strongly by the movement structuring.

Miller also uses the interview excerpt of Toni Morrison and Charlie Rose in the work, and you can watch the full interview here. The interview digs into writing about race, dismantling the white gaze, and discovering the stakes in her book Paradise (Morrison 1998). A book I will add to my list and I am looking forward to reading it during my winter break.

In a Rhythm deep dives into the syntax of movement, and looks at language as choreography in space and time. The choreography not only drew me in but kept me active within the work. The layers of the sections are seamless in their delivery unpacking nightmares of racism subtly sinking below the surface. I did question if I was cross-viewing the work since I was picking up on subtle movements that depict the narratives of racism, and the content of the text, and I shifted many times emotionally in this work. It wasn’t until Miller connected her personal story of seeing Emmett Till’s body on the cover of a magazine that I realized the state of deep sadness in my body, I was curious how long these feelings had been and was left in a profound state after the show ended. This state will take me a moment longer to process. Being in this moment allows me to travel down to the foundation of what I with art as an artist. Overall In a Rhythm seamlessly incorporates a movement language whose syntax was produced with the care of its writer – Bebe Miller.

If you get a chance to see this work I highly recommend it. You can find more on the Bebe Miller Company here and here.

I also recommend you read through Bebe Miller’s Ebook How Dancing is Built: The Making of In A Rhythm here. Bebe Miller has collected and described much of how the making of In a Rhythm came to be. This is a fascinating archive which appears to be written for the audience. On a larger scale, artists documenting and archiving their process is a strategy one can use to preserve the work. With the use of media, video, and blogging an artist can be in conversation with all parties that want to be involved in the work.

Miller, Bebe. 2017. In a Rythm. Wexner Center for the Arts. (Program). Columbus OH.

Morrison, Toni. 1998. Paradise . New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

©LROD

Outletting Creativity

Date: December 4, 2017

Designed in Photoshop by LROD

369 human beings perished in the earthquake this past year in Mexico City. My family which still resides in Mexico was safe and unharmed, however, family and friends lost homes and loved ones. I felt drawn to create a visual remembrance for those who did not survive. Using Photoshop I layered and edited 3 images together to create the above work.

Dia de Los Muertos is central in this photo since it is the day we can reconnect with the lost. This ceremony provides ways for the community to come together in celebration of the lives lived before. Memories re-lived and shared for the next generations to meet and understand the importance of family lineages moving forward.

©LROD

Home Alter: Living Forward

Date: November 2, 2017

Home Alter: Dedicated to mi abuela Martinez y mi Tio Rubio
Design: LROD + Becky Rubio
Lighting: Meg Fox
Photo: Devin Marie Munoz

What does it mean to remember someone when they have passed on? To hold onto the memories to keep them alive means so much to those who celebrate Dia de Los Muertos and invest in a joyous death culture. My home alter has developed from my desire to connect with my loved ones. Home alters are still huge focal points of homes in southern Mexico. These spaces are the heartbeat of the home usually consuming up to half or sometimes a full room. The alters have different components to help the loved ones make their way back to the living on special occasions such as marigolds, fire, food, and candles. Symbolic meanings and religious meanings entangle in what is pagan and what is holy. Some might find this joining of spiritual and corporal morbid. However, to grieve one must celebrate the life lost by having a moment each year to share the stories of loved ones with younger generations is important and keeps the ancestry intact.

I have been fascinated with death since I was a young child. Mostly because my Tia would take me to the desert to these communal gatherings. We would meditate for 3 hours and eat for another three hours in communal gatherings. Beautiful time, she is a reiki, yogi, and layer of hands. However, I experienced my first laying of hands on someone who had passed and I have never looked back. My investment in learning about the funeral industry grew, and learning other death practices for different cultures around the world exploded. There are so many ways one can choose to be buried these days. Quite beautiful. However, I always return to the sitting with death, maybe because I have been around so much of it, grief, loss, and mourning. I understand. Either way, these moments of recalling, celebrating, returning, and honoring–cultivate a deep stillness inside my body.

The work here makes visible the deep connection and importance to those we have lost. My small daily moments with loved ones whom I can no longer visit or call helps me move life forward. I am my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and so on. I am my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, and so on. Branches of love, care, and family are the ones I desire most as my lineage expands and decays.

©LROD